Nearly Almost Dead But Not Quite
by Synaps
Summary: While visiting his mother's relatives in Gravity Falls, Danny finds himself up against more than just ghosts. Further, his parents are up to something, uncharacteristically keeping things secret... and what is Vlad of all people doing in the small town?
1. Visiting the Relatives

**AN:** Yeah, the title doesn't really relate to the content of this fic, other that it sounding like a pretty good description of Danny. (It's one of the bad summer movies on TV in Gravity Falls, from Into the Bunker.) The title is 40% of why I'm writing this, since I felt that there _should_ _be_ a fic with that name in this category, but I promise that I _do_ have a plot.

 **There will be SPOILERS for Gravity Falls up until AToTS aka episode 32. BIG spoilers. (Spoilers so big that I don't want to write the episode title because it sort of gives it away.) You have been warned.**

-. ... - ... -

 **Visiting the Relatives**

The landscape rolled past them outside the car window; forests interrupted by the occasional farmland.

Danny's level gaze didn't leave the window, even as he grew bored with the never-changing countryside. At least he wouldn't have to look at it for long, the way his dad was driving.

Jazz seemed to think that was a bad thing, given the small disapproving noises that escaped her lips every time the vehicle swerved. She was trying to read, but that was a hard to thing to do when their dad was behind the wheel.

There was a barely there beep and Danny pulled out his cell with hurried motions. He almost dropped it as he saw Tucker's name on the screen. What if they had gotten hurt while he was gone? What if... He shook his head to rid them of the thoughts before he read the text.

Boxy needs a hobby.

Danny smiled as the tension left his body.

After much nagging, his friends back home had agreed to text him every day to let him know that they were alright. Danny had argued for hourly updates, so that he could fly over and save them if they needed it, but Sam had rightly pointed out that Oregon was literally on the other side of the country. There was no way Danny could make the trip in less than a day, and if he tried he'd be too exhausted to save anyone.

Sam might have yelled at him a bit for underestimating them, but he knew that if a stronger ghost came through the portal _he_ was always the only one who could deal with it.

If nothing like that happened, the small secret army consisting of Sam and Tucker (with the sort of unwitting help of Valerie) would be able to manage.

That was a pretty big _"if"._

He has 1. Its boxes xP

Danny smirked as he sent his reply. If it was only the Box Ghost, he was happy to let somebody else deal with it.

* * *

Danny wasn't sure of whether it was because they were close to the forest or because he'd spent the last six hours in a crammed RV, but the air in Gravity Falls tasted _great._ He smiled as he exited the stuffy vehicle and finally got to stretch his legs.

They were on the edge of the forest, by a solitary house. The cabin was all wood, with tin roof that was slowly being overtaken by moss. A long saw was hung over the porch, and there were several axes just laying about on the grass. Even somebody who didn't know could tell from first glance that it was a lumberjack's home.

His mom's side of the family was like that – red haired people who thought living in the woods was the Best Thing Ever. It made Danny wonder what her childhood had been like, for them to turn out like that. He'd never asked, partly because the last time he learned anything about his parents' past he made an arch-enemy.

At least they were visiting the Corduroys and not aunt Alicia. With aunt Alicia, he always got the distinct impression that she didn't _want_ them around. The Corduroys were a more welcoming bunch.

Jazz followed him out into the sunshine, rolling her shoulders with a pained look on her face. "I hate dad's driving."

Danny shrugged, because he was in a too good mood to complain.

"Looks like _somebody's_ happy."

"Three words; _ghost_ _free_ _summer._ It'll be like... an actual vacation!"

Jazz laughed lightly as their parents got out of the RV and the group headed over to the cabin. Jazz hung back a bit and he stood next to her as their mother knocked on the door.

"Maddie! Jack!" Manly Dan hit his head on the door frame as he exited. A look of pained understanding passed between him and Danny's equally tall dad as they shook hands.

"Uncle Dan!" Danny's smile widened as the tall man grinned down at him. (With such _extremely_ tall people on both sides of his family, Danny had every hope he'd hit a growth spurt soon.)

"Danny!" Dan set a hand on Danny's shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a familiar and pleasant way, but which would have sent the boy sprawling on the floor if he hadn't had ghostly strength. Not falling over earned him an appreciating nod, like he'd passed some sort of test, which made Danny suspect his uncle was well aware of how much force he'd put into the gesture.

Jazz got a much less physical welcome, which was probably for the best. Dan nodded at her and she returned it, in a way that made it clear that they at least didn't hate each other, even if they'd never be each other's favourite relative.

"Kids!" Uncle Dan shouted into the cabin as he waved them inside. "The Fentons are here!"

If Danny hadn't been there before, the flannel covering every single surface would have distracted him. As it was, he was able to give his full attention to his cousins as they entered the room.

As living arrangements were made and bags were pulled inside, Danny walked over to his oldest cousin. "Hi, Wendy. It's been a while."

Wendy smiled at him. Her hair had grown a bit since they'd last seen each other, but height-wise it seemed Danny was starting to catch up to her. If only barely. Stupid slow ghost ageing.

"Yeah, haven't seen you since winter break."

"Best Christmas _ever._ Do you think my parents will let me go here again this year?"

"Dude, we didn't even celebrate Christmas! We had one of those apocalypse trainings my dad loves." Wend rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"And _that's_ why you're my favourite relatives."

"You're weird. Oh, hey, did I tell you? I've got a summer job."

"You did? Then what am _I_ gonna do all summer?" Danny gesticulated in an over-dramatic way, to make it clear that he was jesting.

"Go to the arcade?"

"You win this round, Corduroy."

Wendy grinned. _"Anyway,_ I'm working at the Mystery Shack. It's a total tourist trap. You should come check it out, we've got some of the best glued together taxidermy animals in the state."

"With such glowing praise, how could I not?"

"Mystery Shack, eh!?"

Danny jumped slightly as his dad's booming voice sounded behind him.

"Sound's like fun, maybe Maddie and I'll join you."

"You should, uncle Jack. It's right up your alley." Wendy smiled at her not-actually-uncle.

Danny simply raised an eyebrow at the smiling Wendy. A cryptozoology themed tourist trap was perfect for the Fentons, but nobody in their right mind thought the Fentons were perfect visitors for a cryptozoology themed tourist trap.

* * *

 **AN:** This chapter turned out much shorter than I'd originally planned, since I removed a scene that didn't really work, but I didn't really know what to add to it. Future chapters will be longer. Feel free to think of this as a sort-of-prologue if that helps.


	2. Playing the Tourist

**AN:** I forgot to mention in the last chapter, but my main inspirations for this are the DP/GF webcomics _Cold_ _Front_ and _You_ _Smell_ _Like_ _Death,_ as well as the WolfSpirit79's youtube video "PHANTOM FALLS - The Supernatural". Do yourself a favour and go check them out, they have the sort of atmosphere I'm going for (well, not YSLD... but it inspired my use of Robbie) while having quite different plot-lines.

RE - Guest: Your assumption that this fic will be re-written episodes is incorrect. I'll use a couple of events from the canon episodes as plot points, but I'll take things in largely different directions from there.

-. ... - ... -

 **Playing the Tourist**

Waking up on a mattress on the floor in his cousin's room was a disorienting experience.

Years of living as a ghost had taught Danny one thing – if he woke up and didn't know where he was, he had been kidnapped. As such, habit snapped him into full awareness in complete silence. He wasn't tied down, which meant-

The sight of his borrowed thin _flannel_ blanket was enough for Danny stop his half-formed escape plans and remember where he was. He smiled as he smelled breakfast from the kitchen, pancakes and bacon and maybe eggs. His stomach growled as he got dressed.

Danny was the last one in the family to get to the kitchen.

The room was _crowded._ It was built to house less than eight people. Somebody had pulled in extra chairs and set them around the table, but there was hardly any room for them. The noise was deafening, as Danny's dad maintained his usual volume and everyone around him had to match it in order to make themselves heard of the sound in the room.

Danny got a few good mornings as he entered the room. He returned them and sat down (with some difficulty, since the sides of the chairs were practically touching).

Jazz passed him the pancakes and breakfast went back to the organized chaos it had previously been.

To his left, his dad was arguing with uncle Dan about it was better to shoot or punch stuff. Danny felt that discussion was best left alone.

Jazz was talking to, or rather _at_ , Wendy about going to college. It seemed the Corduroy girl wasn't planning to, even though she had plenty of time before she needed to make up her mind about it. Danny _knew_ that discussion was best left alone.

Even though he decided to just not talk to anyone, breakfast went by quickly.

"Well, I'm off to work." Wendy leaned back in her seat, obviously happy to have an excuse to get away from Jazz. "Still wanna come with?" The last part was directed at Danny.

Danny shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Aunt Maddie? Uncle Jack?"

The adults nodded enthusiastically.

Jazz hid her amusement poorly. "I'm going to go to the library."

"Don't be like that, Jazzypants. You've gotta join us!"

Jazz took one look at her father's puppy dog eyes before caving. "Fine."

* * *

The Mystery (S)hack was great.

Everything was obviously fake and Danny loved it. It was nice to look at paranormal stuff without anything trying to eat his face. Also, the Sascrotch was a horrible pun and Danny _loved_ horrible puns.

Bonus points; Wendy let them in for free, after making them promise not to tell _anyone_ she did so.

Danny tried to stifle his laughter, since he had a nagging feeling the owner would throw him out if he didn't. Jazz wasn't helping, the way she pointed out the very visible stitching on a taxidermy duck-badger thing.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and he pulled Jazz with him into the gift shop.

Wendy was slouched against the counter, somehow having already found the time to pull out a magazine to read.

Danny wondered how much actual _work_ she did at work.

The gift shop was pretty standard, aside from the super creepy bubble-heads. Danny pulled one down from the shelf and brought it over to his cousin. "What is _this?"_

"Those all look like Mr Pines; my boss."

Danny looked at the monstrosity. Danny looked at Wendy, waiting for her to cave and tell him that she was joking. She didn't. Danny _carefully_ put the bubble-head back on its shelf.

His feelings must have shown on his face, they usually did, because Wendy burst out into laughter. It didn't take much for him to join her.

Danny was leaning against the counter, arm pressed to his stomach, when somebody else entered the gift shop.

He looked down to see two brown haired kids.

"Jazz, Danny these two are Dipper and Mabel Pines." Wendy waved her hand to subtly point at each person in turn.

Mabel smiled brightly, showing off braces. She had a bright sweater on and Danny, who produced his own cold, wondered how she survived in the warm summer weather.

Dipper, rather than sharing the sunny disposition of his sister, scowled at Danny. Danny couldn't help but wonder how he'd manage to make an enemy of the kid in the short time they'd known each other... but on the other hand he always made enemies. It wasn't much weirder than all the ghosts that attacked him on sight, right? The kid's glare shifted between Danny and Wendy.

"Dipper and Mabel; meet my cousins."

Dipper immediately seemed a lot nicer, a genuine smile replacing the scowl.

Danny was very confused.

Jazz giggled, so apparently _she_ understood something Danny didn't. Psychology nerd.

"Hi." Danny smiled at the two, not quite knowing what to think but willing to be friendly with anyone who didn't try to kill him... His standards were probably a bit _too_ low when it came to potential friends. "Sooooo... what are you doing here this early in the morning?"

"Our great uncle owns the place." Dipper shrugged, having apparently decided that he didn't hate Danny.

"Oh... that's nice." Things were getting awkward. What did people even talk about when they weren't attacked by ghosts? Probably not astronomy... but his name was _Dipper._ Danny really wanted to talk about astronomy. " _Soooo._.. Why are you called Dipper?"

The kid turned an interesting shade of red. Danny looked over at Wendy, but she seemed just as confused.

"Ah... erm..." Dipper's eyes were darting around, as if looking for an escape route. "Oh look at the time, I've got to go." Dipper looked theatrically at his watchless wrist before darting out of the room.

"He could have just said he didn't want to tell me."

Mabel petted Danny's elbow in sympathy before running after her brother.

 _'Good job brining up something painful, Fenton... This is why I only have three human friends.'_

* * *

Maddie smiled as she looked around the Mystery Shack. She'd never been there before, it must have been built after her last visit. That must have been... back when Dan's wife had still been alive.

She'd need to ask the kids if _they_ had checked out the tourist trap when they sent them to Gravity Falls for winter break three years ago.

Jack was having a blast, practically skipping between the exhibits.

Danny was trying, unsuccessfully, to not laugh at some stitched-together duck-badger. Jazz was right beside him, doing a much better job at stopping her own giggles.

As the kids ran off to look at the gift shop and talk to their cousin, Maddie joined her husband in looking at a furry salmon, of all things.

"You know who would love this place?" Jack was looking reflective, which was an odd look on him.

Before she could answer him, someone walked to stand behind them. A polite cough caused both of them to turn around to look at the newcomer.

The first thing Maddie saw was the suit. It reminded her of Vlad, and served to immediately set her on edge. Her eyes travelled from it to his eyepatch to his fez before she truly saw his face.

"Stanford Pines!?"

The man's sleazy smile, another part of him that had reminded her of Vlad, dropped like a stone. His eyes widened as he looked them over.

Jack didn't seem to notice.

"Oh _man,_ it's been _years._ How did that portal project of yours go? We never heard back from you! Were our notes any help? We could take a look at it, if it's still not running..."

The man didn't answer, merely standing shock still and looking at them.

"Hey, want to hear about _our_ portal? We finally got it working!" Jack's enthusiasm was endearing, but Maddie kept her piercing eyes on their old friend. There was somethingoff about him.

People changed over time, _sure_ , but Maddie had a hard time imagining the soft-spoken college kid she'd know growing up to be such a... She wasn't even sure how to put it, but this man didn't match the image she had in her head.

Then she noticed his hands, and the missing sixth fingers.

Her ecto-gun was out and aimed before she fully processed the implications. "Jack, that's not Ford!"

"What? Mads, of course he is!"

"Look at his hands."

Not-Ford cleared his throat. "Ah, erm. I can explain. If you don't shoot me."

Maddie didn't lower her gun. She had no doubt that if she hadn't been aiming it at him, he wouldn't be giving them any explanation at all.

"I'm Stanley, Ford's twin brother."

"Ford doesn't have a twin? I mean, he would have said something if he was a twin, right?" Jack was obviously confused, but didn't seem to find the man a threat.

Stanley looked hurt. He turned away for a moment, collecting himself, before continuing. "We had a falling out."

"Where is Ford?" Maddie put her weapon back in its holster, finding herself willing to believe Stanley. "I mean, have you seen him since you-" She waved her hand a bit, hoping to get the message across.

"Yeah, about that..." A hopeful look crossed Stanley's face. "You said you knew about portals, right? I could use your help."

* * *

 **AN** : My notes for the last scene included the phrase "Everything is painful." Do you think I managed to make everybody (mainly Stan) suffer enough? (Why must Stan always suffer?)

 **Edit (10th Nov 2015):** Some readers pointed out timeline issues I'd neglected to think about. So for things to make any sense at all, in this fanfic Ford has been missing for 20 years rather than 30. I don't think it makes that much difference for Gravity Falls and it means that he finished his portal at the same time as three youngsters in Wisconsin University had an accident with their proto-portal. Maddie's latest visit to Gravity Falls was ca 17 years ago - and then the Mystery Shack was still called the Murder Hut in this Universe. Thank you everybody who corrected my mistakes.


	3. Tracking the Thief

**AN:** I thought the idea of Ford being friends with Jack&Maddie&Vlad was too nice to ignore, but I didn't think properly about how the timelines worked out. (And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids… aka **earlier guest** and **sub phantom** and maybe somebody else because I haven't had time to read all the reviews yet) Canon is on a holiday, just like the characters, and in this fic Ford has consequently only been missing for 20 years. (Which means he finished his portal when the Wisconsin U people finished their proto-portal.) I've made a _very_ minor change in phrasing the last chapter to reflect this. There is no need to go back and reread it. Thank you for picking up my slack.

-. ... - ... -

 **Tracking the Thief**

Dipper sighed deeply.

He still felt sort of bad about how he'd run off the day before, when Wendy's cousin had asked about his nickname.

 _'This is why I barely have any friends.'_

The thought was a depressing one, but he wasn't about to show some stranger his birthmark. Enough people had made fun of him because of it already.

"Bro-bro? Are you still in here?" Mabel peeked her head into the attic. "You need to let this go."

"I _could_ have said something cool, been all mysterious about or something. I should have... I could have... I... Aargh! Why is it so hard!? Anything would have been better than panicking and running away!"

"Dip-dop, you're not cool."

"Wow, _thanks_ Mabel. _That_ really cheered me up." Dipper rolled his eyes.

"I mean it. You're sweaty and awkward and a huge nerd, but that's fine. Isn't it?"

"It's just... it's like I don't even know how to talk to people outside of monster hunts." Dipper flipped over in the bed so that he was fully turned towards Mabel.

" _Oooooh,_ I know!" Mabel jumped in excitement. "We'll take Jazz and Danny on a monster hunt!"

"I can't solve all my problems through-"

Dipper's protests were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

"Monster hunt! Let's go!" Mabel pulled on his arm and Dipper was secretly happy to be dragged along. Even if Mabel was mostly doing it to cheer him up.

* * *

Danny took a final sip of soda before dumping the empty cup in the trash. He may or may not have used his ice-powers to keep the drink cold for longer.

The arcade was... not that different from the one back home. The games in Gravity Falls seemed to be slightly more dated, and the dancing game was out of order, but there was a nice retro feel and zero ghosts of technology trying to take over the world. It was good enough for Danny.

Danny texted Tucker to make sure there weren't any ghosts of technology trying to take over the world back in Amity Park.

Jazz had run off to the library at first opportunity, leaving Danny to play against the computer in a kind of fun, if very pink, racing game called Sugar Rush.

Danny musings regarding how useful cookies would be as wheels were interrupted by loud, angry groaning from around the corner.

 _'Curiosity half-killed the cat.'_

Danny ignored his own advice and walked over to find the source of the noise.

He wasn't all that surprised to find a teenager.

The teen was clad in a black hoodie and skinny jeans. Black haired that looked like it was dyed. He looked more emo than goth, but Sam probably would appreciate his aesthetic in either case.

His disposition needed work, though.

"You OK?"

The teen looked up at Danny's question, eyes narrowing in some sort of weird challenge as he sized Danny up.

"I keep losing to the AI. Take player two."

Danny shrugged, maybe if he lost a few rounds on purpose the other teen would lighten up.

* * *

There were shattered pieces of glass from the broken window strewn throughout the kitchen. On the table, bits and pieces of Mabel's latest art project were still a chaotic, glittery mess. There were tiny claw marks all around, but Dipper couldn't say from what.

"It's not here?" Mabel's voice rose a couple of octaves as her wide eyes took in the scene.

"What were you making?" Dipper moved with caution, worried that the art thief was still hiding in the Shack somewhere.

"I was bedazzling a sweater. It's completely covered in pink glitter."

"Well, then. It's time to solve another crime." Dipper puffed his chest up with pride as he remembered the case of the headless wax figure. They'd find the sweater, because it was important to Mabel. "Mystery twins?"

"Mystery twins."

Dipper walked around the kitchen with his hands held behind his back. "First, we scour for clues. I'll need a magnifying glass, I think I have one in-"

"Or we could just follow this trail of glitter."

"That works too."

* * *

"Loser! Loser! Loser!" Robbie, who'd introduced himself in the middle of their second game, was dancing a weird victory dance, which mostly just consisted of him wiggling his hips awkwardly from side to side and pointing at Danny.

Danny was seriously regretting letting him win.

Still, the endless chants of 'loser' weren't actually that mean spirited. They were... _almost_ friendly teasing that had escalated beyond control. That didn't make them less annoying. Danny was gonna kick Robbie's butt the next round. _No more mercy._

Robbie was smiling in an irritating way as he walked over to get a soda from his back-pack, only to stop and let out a small shout.

Practiced reflexes allowed Danny to be by Robbie's side in seconds, fast enough to see a small black animal scurry away, carrying a silver and green cylinder in its mouth.

"My Thermos! What was that!?"

"I don't know, but it stole my mp3-player!" Robbie threw his arms out and practically growled in frustration.

Danny nodded decisively before setting off. "Come on then, let's follow it!"

As they ran, he kept getting small glimpses of the thing. It was the size of a raven, the colour of a raven (aside from what looked like pink glitter), it even flew like a raven. Still he suspected it wasn't a raven, since birds generally didn't have _scales._

* * *

Despite Mabel's previous suggestion, the twins hadn't actually stopped their hunt to go ask the Fenton siblings to join them.

As their journey led them to parts of the forest Dipper had never been in, he was beginning to question that decision. Having back-up would have been nice.

They seemed to be going towards one of the mountains. The white summer clouds seemed to be touching the top of it.

Dipper flipped through the Journal to see if it had any information regarding thieves who had tiny claws and lived in mountains. However, he wasn't finding anything valuable. Cave trolls didn't have tiny claws. Maybe the Author hadn't met whatever it was they were chasing, or maybe he'd written about it in one of the other two Journals, maybe Dipper simply needed more to go on. Either way, it was making him worry.

Something moved in the undergrowth and Dipper moved slightly to the left to stand more in front of Mabel.

A black creature, moving fast enough that Dipper couldn't make out any details, flew out of the bushes, closely followed by two more humanoid figures. The first of them, a blur of white and blue, made a desperate jump in order to catch the small animal, but only managed to land on his face with his hands helplessly outstretched above his head. This caused the other pursuer to trip over the first one, creating a big pile of limbs and hurt.

It took a second look for Dipper to realise who the two actually were.

Mabel smiled and happily said "Danny!"

At the same time, Dipper frowned and growled out "Robbie."

The two teenagers pulled themselves out of their pile. Danny smiled back at Mabel. "Hi. You didn't happen to see where that thing went, did you?"

"What was that? Why were you following it?" Dipper directed his questions to Danny, since there was no way Robbie would answer him.

"I have no idea, but it stole my Thermos."

"A Thermos? Why would you even-"

"It's... special. I really need to get it back."

"Why?"

"I have food allergies and need to make sure I always have something I can eat on me." The words came _way_ too quickly, Dipper could tell that Danny was lying. He let it go with nothing more than a suspicious glare. He'd find out what was so special about the Thermos when they found the thing.

* * *

 **AN:** I'm having a hard time writing Mabel (I love her, but I really can't put myself in her shoes) and I guess that's just another good reason to rewatch old Gravity Falls episodes.


	4. Meeting the Monsters

**Meeting the Monsters**

They were following the trail of glitter through the forest.

Danny felt like he was in some sort of fairytale, which was only added to by the weird feeling he got while in the forest. It felt like... like the Ghost Zone. Or like coming home a winter's day to find his mom had made hot chocolate. Like _home._

Of course, his companions were doing as much as they possibly could to dispel that silly notion. Dipper and Robbie wouldn't stop glaring at each other, while Mabel tried to improve the mood through endless chatter. But maybe that was like home too, where Sam and Tucker would argue over any little thing and Jazz would talk his ear off.

Just as he started feeling like he couldn't take anymore of the weird tension, the four of them reached a clearing at the foot of the mountain.

Sunlight, which had only filtered through thick canopy when in the forest, illuminated the scene fully. Danny blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted.

There, at the edge of the bared stone that made up the mountain, as a weird sort of nest made up of a pink sweater and twigs. In it he could see the metal of his Thermos reflecting the rays of the sun. Lying on top of it was their little thief.

Sitting still in direct sunlight, there was no way to mistake the creature for a raven.

Bright yellow eyes stood out against the shiny black of the scales. It had four legs and small wings with stretched membrane, like a bat. It was a _dragon_.

And Danny's Ghost Sense hadn't gone off all day.

"A living, breathing dragon." His voice was little more than a whisper, as if he worried he'd break the spell if he said anything too loudly and spooked the creature.

"A baby dragon." Mabel's eyes sparkled with light of entire galaxies.

Dipper was flipping through the pages of an old book.

"It's just some dumb animal." Robbie walked around them and stalked up to the nest, pulling out his mp3-player. He paid the dragon little heed, looking at it like you might look at a seagull which had stolen your hot dog.

The dragon took offence to that, or maybe just to having its treasure stolen, and it gave a tiny screech in reply.

Something higher up in the mountain rumbled.

"If that's the baby..." Dipper looked up from his reading.

Danny could feel his heart drop as he finished the sentence. "... where's the mother?"

The roar coming from up the mountain was like a horrible, pitched down echo of the baby's call.

"Run." Dipper grabbed Mabel's hand. "Run!"

They ran.

Danny tried to keep his eyes on where he was running, for fear of tripping over roots and the like, but they kept searching for the large dragon.

"Dipper!" Mabel's scream from up ahead alerted Danny, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong. Dipper had his head in his book again.

"Dragons don't like water!" Dipper shouted it loudly before putting the book back in his vest. "The river is this way!"

It felt good to have a plan.

It felt less good to see the shadow of a large creature spread before them.

The twins were running in the front, leading the group towards the river. Danny was hot on their heels, but Robbie was falling behind.

Mama dragon roared.

Danny heard a small yelp from behind and he turned his head to look. Robbie had fallen over. The dragon was coming closer.

Danny didn't even think, he just _reacted._ He turned around and started running back towards his new sort-of-maybe-friend.

It wasn't like he'd never fought a dragon before.

The older dragon was as pitch black as her baby, but where the scales touched golden light leaked out. She looked like the night sky, and if circumstances were different Danny would have stopped to admire her. She was slightly smaller than Dora's dragon form.

The dragon landed behind Robbie, who was to paralysed with fear to even scramble away.

The monster glowed brighter as it took a deep breath.

Danny stumbled slightly as he reached Robbie, but he was able to put up a bright green shield just in time to stop them both from being burned by the fiery breath.

The dragon's golden eyes narrowed as it realised neither teen had been cooked to a well-done perfection.

Danny bared his teeth at it.

The dragon copied his action, showing a much more impressive set of pearly whites.

Danny moved slightly backwards, without breaking eye contact, and pulled Robbie to his feet. Remaining in eye contact with a dragon was only partly and excuse to not have to see the guy's reaction.

The dragon took a single step forward.

Danny shot a blast of ice at it, clogging its nostrils, before dragging Robbie into a run.

The entire interaction hadn't taken more than a few seconds, however much it had felt like an eternity, and with their long legs they quickly caught up with the Pines twins.

The dragon sounded angrier than before... and like it had a bad cold.

Danny couldn't stop himself from smirking at that.

The feeling of wind fanned by the dragon's large wings wiped the smile off his face.

The river, just visible between the trees as they turned a sharp corner, suddenly seemed _very_ inviting.

Still, Robbie hesitated at the edge of it. Dipper helpfully gave him a hard shove before taking Mabel's hand and jumping in after him. Danny followed.

The dragon looked at them, eyes narrowed in rage, before huffing and turning around. Apparently they weren't worth getting wet over.

Danny exhaled slowly, unwinding ever so slightly. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins.

Mabel started giggling in relief, her laugh contagious. Before he knew it, Danny had joined her. Dipper started laughing as well, but Robbie gave the three of them a judgmental glare.

"Relax, we _survived."_ Danny rolled his eyes, _somebody_ needed to lighten up a bit.

Robbie's insulted humph sounded exactly like the dragon's.

* * *

Danny cradled a cup of coffee in his hands, savouring the warmth. It tasted like dirt water, but sometimes it was the thought that counted.

He was with Dipper, Mabel and Wendy in the Mystery Shack's kitchen. The three of them were covered in towels and blankets. The twins each had a cup of coffee. Neither one had attempted to drink it. That was probably a good thing, he didn't want to see Mabel on caffeine.

Wendy looked offended, but even she didn't drink the coffee she had brewed for them.

"So. Dragons." Danny stared at the black liquid. "That's apparently a thing now."

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Don't look so surprised. I mean, your par-"

"Not a word." Danny's voice was hard, but his eyes darted towards the twins.

"Dude, they-"

"Not. A. Word."

"Ugh, _fine._ Be that way." Wendy threw her hands into the air.

"Thanks. Sorry." Danny smiled at her, his hand making its way to his neck.

She didn't look any less irritated with him.

Mabel nudged her brother with an elbow to his side. She smiled at him and inclined her head towards Danny. Dipper nodded.

"Erm, Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for overreacting before-"

Danny blinked, going over their meeting with the dragon to find where Dipper had overreacted. "I thought you handled it pretty well, actually."

"Really?" Dipper sounded incredibly sceptical.

"Yeah, not many people can face a dragon like that and-"

"I... I wasn't talking about the dragon."

"Then what... oh. Right." Their disastrous first meeting, of course. "I was actually planning on apologizing for that, too. I didn't mean to upset you. Sorry."

"I know you didn't, that's why _I'm_ sorry."

"Let's just... forget it ever happened, OK?"

Dipper smiled and nodded. "That sounds perfect."

* * *

Vlad Masters tried to hide his distaste as he looked out at the town before him. Gravity Falls, even from his position in the centre of the town, he could feel the mystical energies in the forest surrounding it. Some of it was ghostly, most of it was not. The rumours, which he'd barely believed when he first heard them, appeared to be true.

Yet none of the citizens seemed to have the slightest idea of what was going on. It was a far cry from Amity Park and it's ghost drills.

Operating in this... _city,_ if one could call it that... wouldn't be that different from what he was used to. Masters would subtly search using human connections, the Northwests lived in the sorry excuse of a town, while Plasmius looked for any supernatural clues.

Yes, it would be easy to find what he was looking for... and when he did, everything he'd ever wanted would be his.

Except for maybe the Packers.

* * *

 **AN:** I've got Weirdmaggedon feels.

Wendy knows the twins won't judge Danny for having ghost hunter parents, that's what she was trying to say. If Danny would just listen to her, things would go a lot smoother... but _no,_ he's _got to_ assume that they are like pretty much every other person he's ever met in his entire life. Kid's got issues.


	5. Facing the Aftermath

**Facing the Aftermath**

The diner was full of people, something Danny took notice of as he leaned closer to his companion to avoid being overheard. At least the bustle of people covered his words. This wasn't the sort of conversation where he could afford anyone listening in on.

While Dipper and Mabel had been running away – combining the two states of facing the other direction and being far away, Robbie had actually seen him use his powers. That needed to be dealt with, preferably before the teen told anyone. If he already _had_ , Danny was in trouble. Robbie had left quickly the day before, there was no telling where he had gone after they parted.

Danny's hands where sweaty, his breathing slightly irregular. Taking pity on himself, he decided to ease into the conversation slowly."You've lived here all your life, right?"

Robbie was mostly looking annoyed with the situation, slowly eating a ketchup covered French fry. "... Yeah."

"Then you can explain what... whatever it was that happened yesterday, right? And in turn _I'll_ explain... the thing that happened yesterday."

Robbie raised a single eyebrow, a feat Danny had been practising for months without perfecting.

"You know... with the dragon? And the ice?"

"Don't make up creepy stories. You sound like the Pines kid."

Danny blinked. Twice. "Wait, what? Are you _in_ _denial?"_

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're in denial." Danny gave Robbie a pitying look. "Well, as long as you don't go around telling people what I did-"

"There's nothing _to_ tell." Robbie was starting to look _really_ irritated, biting down on the fries with more force than necessary.

"Then how do you explain your broken mp3-player?"

"Dipper pushed me into the river."

"And he did that because?" Danny rolled his hand in a 'go on' gesture.

"Because he's jealous of me and Wendy."

"Because we were being chased by a dragon!" Danny stopped himself as he realised he had raised his voice. They didn't need to attract attention. A sweep of the room confirmed that nobody seemed to be listening. Danny brought his focus back to Robbie, but something in his eyes made Danny pause. They didn't remind him of when Jazz had been in denial about ghosts, but rather showed genuine confusion. "You don't remember, do you?"

Danny could only look on in shocked silence as Robbie got angry enough to leave the table without another word.

Robbie didn't remember anything that had happened. A selfish part of Danny was happy that his secret was safe. The moody teen wasn't exactly somebody he trusted. Still, it was worrying... _Why_ didn't he remember?

Or, maybe the question was; _why did Danny?_ Was it because he wasn't human? Was there some ghostly artifact in Gravity Falls that caused humans to forget about things? Or maybe not even ghostly, the dragons had been 100% alive after all...

Danny noticed that he was confused.

He needed to check if Dipper and Mabel still remembered the dragons, and then he needed to find his still missing Thermos.

* * *

Danny tried to appear casual as he walked over to the back door of the Mystery Shack. He was failing quite badly. What if they didn't remember? What would that mean? Would his parents forget their livelihoods if they spent too long in Gravity Falls? Would Jazz forget about his secret? Would the human part of him eventually make him forget, too?

There were _way_ too many things he didn't know about the situation.

Danny knocked on the door.

It was Mabel who answered it, a big smile on her face. "Hi, Danny. Come in! Me and Dipper were just finishing lunch."

Danny smiled back, if only to hide his nerves.

"Would you like a glass of Mabel Juice? It has plastic dinosaurs in it." The way she smiled made it very obvious that she thought the plastic dinosaurs were a huge selling point.

Danny blinked, nervousness forgotten in his confusion. "I think I'll pass."

"Your loss."

Mabel led him into the kitchen, talking excitedly about something... he wasn't actually paying that much attention. His earlier worries were returning.

Dipper stood by the sink, apparently putting away his plate. Before he could say anything, Danny's _kinda very important_ question came in a burst of nerves.

"Do you remember the dragon!?"

Dipper blinked and looked at Mabel before answering. "Yeah, those are pretty hard to forget."

Danny exhaled like an emptying balloon. "Oh, good. I was worried, since you're both human and all..." He mumbled the last part under his breath.

"... Why?" Mabel was looking at him with concern.

"Robbie doesn't remember what happened."

"What!? How is that even possible?" Dipper's eyes widened almost comically.

"I think something did something to his memories."

"But what could..." Dipper pulled out the Journal and started flipping the pages.

"I don't know, but be careful, okay?"

"It wasn't the dragon, they don't have those kind of powers..." Dipper mumbled mostly to himself as he continued his search.

"Maybe it's more general. Robbie seemed offended by the very idea that there was something wrong with this town."

"But... that wasn't the first time he's run into the supernatural. He was there at the haunted convenience store."

"Maybe he doesn't remember that either." Mabel shrugged. "It's not like we've talked to him about it after."

"Haunted convenience store?" Danny latched onto the phrase, trying his best to act casual about it.

"The old Dusk 2 Dawn, but you _really_ shouldn't go there. The ghosts there _hate_ teenagers."

Danny filed the information away, and nodded in a way he hoped would make the kids believe he'd taken their warning to heart.

 _'So I need to find out what makes people forget about the supernatural, find my Thermos_ and _defeat some ghosts in an old convenience store... Well, one_ _crisis at a time.'_

All in all, the Dusk 2 Dawn was probably a low priority... if only because the memory issues and the Thermos were such potential disasters.

He was so distracted by everything that was going on, that he almost forgot to ask about the _other_ thing that had been on his mind. "Hey, Dipper... What's up with that old book?"

Dipper almost hid the tome behind his back, before apparently changing his mind. He put the book on the table, flipping it open at a random page. "I found it in the forest. It's a journal about all the weird things that happen in Gravity Falls."

"Cool." Danny mumbled, before hesitantly turning the pages. It read like something Agent Mulder would write. If Danny had seen the journal _before_ running into that living dragon, he might not have believed it.

There was a section about ghosts.

 _Of course_ there was a section about ghosts.

It was surprisingly accurate, for a scientific text about ghosts. Almost like the author had _talked_ to spectres, rather than use Danny's parents' policy of 'shoot first, ask questions _never_ '. Even if there was no new information, it made the rest of the text more believable.

He flipped the page again, trying not to make his interest in ghosts too obvious. "This is... not how I thought I'd spend my vacation."

"But you believe us?"

Danny looked up and locked gazes with Dipper, who was wringing his hands slightly.

"Of course. I saw the dragon, didn't I? If that can exist why not..." Danny looked down at the yellowed pages again for an example. "...Gnomes? _Really,_ gnomes? I take it all back. Dragons make more sense than gnomes."

Dipper huffed at the perceived insult, but Danny smirked and stuck out his tongue at him. "Just kidding."

"You're taking this very well."

Danny didn't know how to reply to Mabel's innocent comment. Even by people who believed in ghosts, the Fentons were considered extreme and weird and... no, better to keep it a secret as long as he could.

"I guess? I mean, it's not... I don't know?"

Danny wished he was a better liar, because Dipper's calculating look was seriously unnerving.

* * *

 **AN** : This one gave me writer's block. The main problem was that there isn't really much _happening,_ even though all of this is important for the continued story. Next time there will be more action.

And _yes,_ the main reason I included Robbie last chapter was so I could delete his memories. Since the Fenton parents are helping out with the portal, it will be opened _before_ season 2 and the episode _Society_ _of_ _the_ _Blind_ _Eye._ As such, I had actual reasons for doing this... one of the reasons is that it's fun to mess with my readers.


End file.
